Tri-Optic

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Enasys inMotion, in partnership with a technology solutions provider and the largest credit card issuer is simplifying the payments industry. Unlimited products are entered into the inMotion system and identified by an RFID tag. Further define your product by adding content describing the item and its cost. Fill a shopping cart, place in a shopping bag, or simply carry your items through a checkout station or arch, inMotion will know what you’ve selected and will do the rest.

The inMotion software and RFID enabled hardware will read the tags associated to each item, create a shopping list and total your purchase. Complete your purchase without swiping or inserting your card. A few of the payment methods being demoed include:

Touch of your loyalty card with a QR code (quick response)

Tap your NFC Ring (near field communication)

Press your fingerprint on a scanner

Place your palm on a vascular biometric scanner.

A purchase can be that simple when the payment methods are tied to your personnel payment choice. Working with our vendors EDP inMotion can take your payment ideas and turn them into a payment solution.

In the last few years the tape industry has been re inventing itself and it continues to deliver new technologies and compelling functions including continued cartridge capacity increases, vastly improved bit error rates which now yield the highest reliability of any storage device, a media life of thirty years or more and faster data rates than any other previous tape or disk technology. The era of modern tape has arrived!

A few facts about Tape:

Tape is cheaper ($/GB) to acquire than Disk,

Tape has a lower TCO than disk,

Tape is more reliable than disk,

The capacity of a Tape Drive now is higher than that of the largest disk,

The media life of modern tape is 30 years or more,

LTFS tape now has media partitions for faster “ disk like” access,

There is a 10 year roadmap for Tape.

The era of modern tape has arrived due to the points made above and the fact that the troublesome issues of the past such as edge damage, stretch tear and loading issues are gone coupled with the advent of Barium Ferrite media which has helped redefine the future of Tape and with the Internet, Cloud, big data and IoT waves promising unprecedented growth, the timing of advanced Tape could not be better.

In terms of Tape media considerations, for years Metal Particulate (MP) was the primary tape media type, however that was made of iron therefore it oxidised over time and its magnetic property deteriorated. However LTO 6 onwards used MP and Barium ferrite. Along with these advances, tape media has increased substrate dimensional stability with reduced thickness, much smoother surfaces, lower defect densities. Tape media is now highly reliable as it must be to be transported around without reliability impact and must have a high capacity and very long life for archival applications which are one of its primary uses today.

Barium Ferrite (BaFe) is made of an oxide and therefore does not lose its magnetic property due to oxidisation. The much smaller particles are one of the main advantages as it allows more particles-per -unit volume and therefore improves the signal to noise ratio and reliability. This is what gives it the much longer archival life of over 30 years.

Security features are included on LTO and enterprise tape drives to address countless compliance and legal requirements including Write-once-Read-Many (WORM), data encryption to protect data at rest and various write-protect capabilities. This becomes more important with GDPR now being in effect.

Since Tape is removable media, it can easily be transported from one location to another in the case of extended power cuts and natural disasters which have become more common in recent years. Given the number of natural disasters potentially forcing Data centres to go without electricity, media portability is a last however valuable line of defence. The “Truck access method” is here to stay. Cybercrime occurrences are on all HDD’s however are negated on Tape with what’s known as the “Tape air gap” since tape data is stored offline and not available to hackers.

EDP EnaSys is currently working with a large Data Center with over 10,000 mission critical assets.

Until now, they’ve been manually conducting two inventories per year, entirely on clipboards and spreadsheets. A process that has chewed up 425 work hours per inventory, not to mention countless dollars, to conduct those audits from one end of the data center to the other.

With the implementation of Enasys RFID asset tracking, the only thing manual about their inventory process now is opening a door and pulling the trigger on a scanner. Inventory time has been reduced to 10 hours per session, having been chopped down by a whopping 98%!

Without question, RFID is the most cost-effective and accurate method of inventory tracking and control on the market today, regardless of industry type.

If you’re wrestling with your own methods of asset tracking, or are even just curious, contact one of our experts today and we’d be happy to help you figure out a solutions for your particular situation.

It is an LTO-7 cartridge initialized in an LTO-8 drive. The cartridge must be new in order to initialize it using the Type M protocol. A new bar code using the Media ID of “M8” is required.

What is the capacity of the cartridge?

Using the LTO-7 Type M cartridge a capacity gain of an additional 3 TB is possible. This takes the LTO-7 cartridge from 6 TB to up to 9 TB of native capacity. When compressed it goes from 15 TB to 22.5 TB.

How do I initialize the cartridge?

New LTO-7 cartridges can only be initialized using LTO-8 drives that support the LTO-7 Type M media.

Ever since EDP introduced Tri-Optic ToGo (TTG) back in 2008, their policy has been to only certify one printer for use with TTG and traditionally their printer of choice was Xerox as those printers have a short paper path which is ideal for the EDP .5mm face stock and the printers can and do print labels with consistent high quality and can handle the volume requirements. The 73 partners across EMEA, APAC and the US and Canada can attest to that.

Last summer Xerox announced EOL for the 6700 phaser printer which is not a huge problem as it will be supported for at least five years. However, the practical problem is that they became very hard to purchase by new TTG users so EDP had to begin a search for the next printer to be certified.

The search and review involves looking at the hardware and the firmware of the Printers concerned, testing them with the EDP face stock and testing them in high volume printing scenarios to see how they keep the alignment and produce consistent high quality which is vital for Tri-Optic media labels to ensure they can be read by any automated Library in use today.

Once a printer is identified and passes those tests, print samples need to be sent to all the Tape Library manufacturers for them to run their own tests and certify the labels meet their standards. This is of particular importance to the major manufacturers such as HPE, IBM, Quantum and Spectra Logic however all the others also.

EDP went through this process and last month announced the certification of the OKI C931e for the US and the C911 all countries outside of the US. The printer is available and supported worldwide which is a key requirement for EDP.

The OKI models are digital 4 LED full colour printers 1200 x 1200 A3 printers with a duty cycle of 25,000 pages per month.

The major differences between the Xerox 6700 and the OKI printer are:

10K increase in pages per month that can be printed.

200K increase in maximum No. of labels per month.

180 pages per hour faster.

1GB more storage.

2 dbD quieter.

The OKI printer comes with a 3 year service warranty if registered.

The first TTG users are now purchasing the OKI printer as their current printers are ageing and as new TTG user sign up they will be purchasing the OKI Printer.

As always EDP offer a full installation support service via technical support based in the US and the UK.

For any related questions on TTG please contact Todd Klug at (800) 522-3528 or Brian Hicks in EMEA on +44 7702899530.

With so many types of RFID tags on the market, it’s very important to choose the right tag for the asset you’ll be applying it to. There are four main considerations:

#1 – What type of material are you placing the tag on?

Metal?

Wood?

Paper?

Plastic?

Uniforms?

Each of these examples requires a different type of tag to ensure optimal performance.

#2 – How will the tag be applied?

Adhesive foam backing?

Hanging the tag to asset?

Screwing the tag to the asset?

Some form of glue or epoxy?

Size of area to place tag on?

How thick can the label be?

Read range needed?

Obviously, you don’t want to place a tag on your asset only to discover it has fallen off in a matter of days. At EDP, our experts will guide you through this critical step and put you on the path to successful asset tracking.

#3- What elements will the assets will be exposed to?

Heat?

Cold?

Pressure?

Outdoor/Indoor?

Chemical exposure?

Gamma?

#4 – Encoding

Pre-encoded?

Will you be encoding?

Labels?

Regardless of your needs and types of assets, EDP will provide an optimal RFID solution that will save you time and money for years to come. Contact us for a custom solution today. 800.522.3528 or email info@edpllc-usa.com.

A new law, the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA), specifies that drug manufacturers must serialize their products as of November 2017. Two years from the beginning of these new pharmaceutical serialization regulations, wholesalers will only be allowed to receive and ship serialized product.

Implementation challenges and uncertainties have caused some to adopt a wait-and-see approach. However, making the transition to unit-level serialization, as well as other data requirements specified, will take time and effort. The best solution remains to make the transition to serialized production sooner rather than later with a trusted tracking and label solutions specialist, like Engineered Data Products.

Time and money always top the list of resources needed to implement changes quickly and correctly. Another resource that is in increasingly short supply is the solution providers that manage the transition and the accompanying serial numbers. There are so many companies just beginning the process that demand for products and services to suit this need will be tight.

The change represents an investment in software, hardware, and temporary reductions in productivity while the changes are being implemented. Service providers can help navigate the logistical infrastructure and setup to maximize efficiencies. The best way to optimize the transition process is to stay abreast of guidelines as they develop.

Don’t let implementation challenges delay you! The deadline for complete implementation of DSCSA has been extended by one year to November 26, 2018. Engineered Data Products can be the solutions provider who will help you meet the deadline. EDP’s label software can properly serialize product without repetition or skipping. EDP’s tracking software, EnaSys, provides the ability to track product as it moves through the supply chain. Both systems are easy and affordable to implement and use. With current installations at many medical facilities across the United States, we can create your customized 2D barcodes, assist in developing tagging and tracking procedures, and ensure compliance far ahead of deadline.

The next generation of Ultrium Linear Tape Open, generation 8, is expected to be released in mid-December 2017 or early January 2018.

What Does This Mean for Tape Media?

LTO 8 tapes more than double the capacity of LTO 7 tape.

LTO 8 tapes are expected to have an uncompressed storage capacity of 12TB and a compressed capacity of up to 30TB per cartridge (with 2.5:1 compression).

Higher data transfer rates of up to 750 MB/sec with 2.5:1 compression and 300 MB/sec uncompressed.

The LTO 8 cartridges will be backwards compatible with LTO generation 7 cartridges.

Plus, LTO generation 7 cartridges will have a new initialization feature: if initialized as LTO-8 Type M media, they will be capable of storing up to 22.5TB* of data, increasing cartridge capacity by up to 50% and providing a cost-effective tape media storage solution.

Addressing Your Storage Requirements

Tri-Optic is the world leader in storage media barcode labels.

Tri-Optic specializes in:

storage media barcode labels

RFID-enabled media labels

label attaching services

storage media tape tracking

Tri-Optic prides itself on meeting the specifi cations of some of the worlds largest OEM’s. We have built many strong relationships with major tape library manufacturers in order to ensure we have the most reliable media labels on the market. Our bar code standards are so strict that from label to label there is less than .0381mm of difference between all elements.

Our labels are made on a superior stock and laminated for proper application and maximum life. Tri-Optic uses a non-reflective finish for minimal surface reflectivity and accurate reading every time. We are so sure of the quality of our labels that we give them a lifetime guarantee.

The RFID tag trend – these tags might not have been considered trendy five years ago, but today, major brands and fashion giants are utilizing RFID tagging technology to curb counterfeiting and to better manage inventory.

So Vintage

RFID was patented in 1983 and was a revolutionary development in near-field communication (NFC). Like NFC, chips store data digitally and transmit via electromagnetic fields and radio waves.

So Versatile

RFID tags are making their debut in a variety of industries, including fashion and merchandising. Not only does it help identify and manage products, but it also enhances in-store experience and brick-and-mortar shopping. RFID can also power self-checkouts, smart tables, and social sharing.

Très Chic, no?

Not only having designed for major brands, but implementing complete systems throughout, Design Inmotion has the unique experience to assist you and your team in developing a system that will support your brand. Design Inmotion has competency in screen technology, RFID, ibeacons, BLT, interactivity, along with software and mechanics to make it all work consistently. They understand the soft and hard issues of bringing a retailer’s message within a budget and will provide you the plan to achieve your objectives.

Many major metropolitan school bus systems are outfitted with RFID systems, namely tags and portals, to track students as they board and disembark.

The goal, to improve ridership visibility, will soon be bolstered by the incorporation of a tablet reporting tool. Using a mobile tablet device, bus drivers and other chaperones will be able to ensure passengers do not leave the bus at incorrect stops.

Pay-to-ride bus services are now also utilizing similar technology to track the number of riders on the bus for safety purposes as well as to track the distance traveled for proper ticket pricing.

The portals are typically at the front and rear exit points of the bus, and in the case of school children, the tags contain no other information beyond a serial number that identifies them in the system. Alerts and events can be set for incorrect exits, failure to exit, and more.

All Aboard Better Asset Tracking

From portals to passes, the EnaSys solution can help your organization in tracking bus passengers or any high-value assets.

EnaSys high-value asset control delivers a comprehensive solution that is intuitive to use and provides comprehensive results through extensive asset tracking capabilities. EnaSys allows user to not only frequently audit their assets in a fraction of the time of normal methodologies, but it provides a chain-of-custody report for each asset from inception to disposal. Integrating with an organization’s enterprise asset database, one can be fully aware of how the asset has moved within and between rooms, buildings and locations. Alerts can be employed to signal movement, whether unauthorized or permissible, to ensure compliance with company or regulatory compliance.

EnaSys offers a complete and automated asset-tracking solution that incorporates proper methodologies in a reliable, integrated manner to capture all physical infrastructure assets from deployment to decommissioning. Our asset-tracking system provides completes tracking and typically provides a payback of just over a year and is supported by multi-level services to help you successfully deploy your program. Just as importantly, it accomplishes this in one-tenth of the time of traditional methods. This allows you to audit more frequently and reduce costs.